Bending-machine.



J. H. KIMBELL.

I BENDING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAR-22,1910

Patented Oct. 18, 1910.

- flaw/6752 02 M 22/15.

ATENT to,

IBENDING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 18, 1910.

Application filed March 22, 1910. Serial No. 550,938.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JonN H. KIMBELL, a citizen of the United States,residing at VVhitesburg, in the county of Carroll and State of Georgia,have invented new and useful Improvements in Bending-Machines, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to bending machines, and particularly that classof ma chines adapted for bending the hooks or trace carriers for theback bands of harness, and the primary object of the same is to providea simplified organization of cooperating elements for producingdifferent forms of back band hooks or carriers from rods or heavy wirestock.

The invention consists essentially of a support or body carrying ananvil or shaper and having bending members or jaws disposed on oppositesides of the anvil and provided with edge portions shaped to cooper atewith the anvil to produce the form of hook or carrier desired in suchcondition that it may be expeditiously finished. The bending members orjaws are so constructed that they will efficiently cooperate with anvils or shapers of different contours, thus rendering it possible bysimple change of theanvil or shaper with the same pair of bendingmembers or jaws to produce back band hooks or carriers of differentforms.

In the drawing: Figure 1 is a front eleation of a bending machineembodying the features of the invention and showing the bending membersor jaws open and in engagement with the stock. Fig. 2 is a similar viewshowing the bending members or jaws closed and the stock as having beenbent thereby around the anvil. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical sectionthrough the center of the machine as shown by Fig. 2, the bent stockhaving been removed. Fig. at is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the useof a different form of anvil and the formation of a correspondinglydifferent contoured carrier or hook. Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate theangular forms of back band hooks or trace carriers which are shaped inblank by the mechanism.

The numeral 5 designates the support or body which may be of anysuitable dimensions and material metal being preferably used in itsconstruction. Along the upper edge a thin strip or bar 6 is secured andon the center of said bar is fastened a guard 7 having its lower edgecoincident with the adjacent portion of the lower edge of the said stripor bar On the center of the face of the support or body 5 below theguard 7, an anvil 8 is removably applied by means of suitablefastenings, such as bolts 9. This anvil constitutes a shaper, and asshown by Figs. 1 and 2 it is of inverted triangular form, and asillustrated by Fig. 4: is approximately rectangular or square. The upperedge of the anvil 8 is spaced from the lower edge of the guard 7 asuflicient distance to permit the ready insertion of the stock to bebent, and when it is desired to substitute one form of anvil for anotherit is only necessary to remove the fastenings 9 and replace one anvil byanother and secure it with the same fastenings. It is proposed to equipthe machine or bending device with a number of anvils of differentshapes so that the blank that is formed by bending the same around theanvil may be varied in contour.

At suitable points on opposite sides of the vertical center of thesupport or body are bending members or jaws 10 fulcrumed at their upperends above the guard 7 and anvil 8, as at 11, and having suitablehandles or grips 12 for manipulating the same. The bending members orjaws 10 are applied against the outer surface of the strip or bar 6 andare thereby prevented from having frictional binding on the face of thesupport or body 5 below the anvil and the said strip or bar. The upperportions of the inner edges of the bending members or jaws areconstructed to render them effective in performing the bending operationin relation to the anvil and to insure bending of the stock withoutbuckling or irregular movement to produce the shape of back band hook,trace carrier or analogous device that may be desired to be formed.Adjacent to the upper end of each jaw a concaved recess 13'is formed andmerges into a convex projection 14, the latter continuing into an abruptconcaved recess 15 which in turn lnerges into an angular wall 16 runningto the inner edge of the member or jaw. The recess 13 of each jaw may betermed the initial bending medium because it starts the stock in adownward direction when the member or jaw is drawn downwardly over thesupport or body, the two members or jaws being drawn equally in adownward direction toward each other in the operation of the machine.The bending members or jaws 10 have considerable width at their upperextremities to render them strong and to reinforce them adjacent to thepoints where the inner bending edges are constructed. This increasedwidth of the bending members or jaws also gives weight to the latter toassist in their downward movement toward each other.

The stock 'to be bent is cut in lengths equal to the distance betweenthe maximum depths of the recesses 13 when the bending members or jawsare fully open or elevated as shown by Fig. 1, and each length isinserted b tween the guard 7 and anvil 8 with the terminals thereofengaging about the central portions of the recesses 13. If the invertedtriangular anvil 8, as shown by Figs. 1 and 2, is used, the stock isbent downwardly around the same and the ends projected in close relationbelow the anvil, as shown by Fig. 2, the projection it as well as thepro jection formed by the intersection of the wall 16 and the inner edgeof each jaw operating to force the stock inwardly against the anvil andto draw the two ends of the stock closely together below the anvil. Theopposing projections 1*, when the jaws are fully closed, force the stockgradually around the upper portion of the anvil and rest against saidstock at points slightly below the upper edge of the anvil, and when thestock moves over the projections 14 to and over the projections formedat the intersections of the walls v1G with the inner edges of themembers or aws 10, the latter projections assist in the inward anddownward movement of the stock and insure the parallel contiguousassociation of the ends of the stock below the anvil.- Then arectangular or square anvil is applied to the machine the operation ofthe bending members or jaws is practically the same as just describedexcept that the recesses 15 come into play and receive portions of thestock and crowd the latter up against the lower extremity of the anvilon opposite sides of the center to produce the desired contour at thelower part of the body of the blank back band hook or trace carrier, asclearly shown by Fig. 4. After the blanks have been formed as shown byFigs. 1, 2 and 4 the ends are turned upwardly in hook form, as shownparticularly by Fig. 6 and illustrating the inverted triangular blank infinished condition.

By means of the machine described, blanks for back band hooks or tracecarriers of different forms may be expeditiously and from the latter,the lower edge of the guard being parallel with the upper edge of theanvil, and inwardly movable bending members fulcrumed on the supportabove the guard and anvil and having their upper extremities increasedin width and their inner edge portions at a short distance from thefulcrumed extremities alternately formed with recesses and projectionsto adapt them for bending stock into different shapes, the stock priorto the bending being supported at an intermediate point on the anvil andthe ends thereof engaged by a portion of the recesses of the bendingmembers.

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a supporthaving a strip secured along one edge thereof, an anvil secured on thesupport below the strip and having an upper edge parallel with the loweredge of said strip, a guard over the anvil and spaced from the latter,the guard being secured on the strip directly over the anvil and havingits lower edge parallel with the upper edge of the said anvil, the anvilhaving unbroken side edge portions, and bending members fulcrumed on thestrip above the anvil and guard and provided with alternately arrangedrecesses and projections in a portion of the inner edges adjacent to thefulcrumed extremities, the said bending members being also disposed atequal distances on opposite sides of the center of the support and ofthe anvil and held elevated during the bending operation by the ends ofthe stock engaging a portion of the recesses thereof and alsointermediately bearing on the upper edge of the anvil, the anvil beingfreely removable and replaceable.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

JOHN HARRIESS KIMBELL. l/Vitnesses H. GRADY J ONES, JAMES WHITE.

